General Discussion Topics, page-90658

Centrelink are the worst. id rather sell drugs than rely on jumping through hoops for them for a welfare payment. Think ill agree to disagree on this one.

Age pension should be a right for all who can prove they have worked for 40+ years in this country and paid tax, regardless of wealth.

You have 2 people.
Both work for 50 years of their lives

1 spends every dollar they have on gambling, booze and cigarettes, in essence, living the "high life" and due to this very lifestyle also uses the public health system more for ailments
1 saves their money and puts it in sound investments (SYA for example )

both retire due to old age.

1 is eligible for age pension because they have no assets getting $20K a year for about 20 years until death
the other does not because they have assets above the cap to qualify.

Both have worked all their life
Both have paid taxes all their life.

$20K over 20 years is $400k* that they received by not bothering to care about their future
The other who has tried to set themselves up for retirement loses 400k due to doing so.

I guess this is where the "life isnt fair" came from.

Im not even wealthy and I think it should be a right regardless of wealth.
Assets and income is something one of them has choosen to pay attention to, it should not discriminate them when they have done the exact same thing (pay taxes all their life).

This also therefore encourages gamblin towards your twilight years. "Well may as well gamble big on investments to become a self funded retiree worse case scenario I can always fall back on the pension..... stupid system obviously set up by public sector communist as a redistribution of wealth.

Anyways.......